Deciding Fate Of Cop Dog

Bite Victim Wants To Buy Black Jack

GLOUCESTER — As State Police officials ponder the fate of Black Jack, the German shepherd that bit three people, one of his bite victims is trying to buy him.

"I know he's not a bad dog," said Carlton Belcher, 18, a kennel worker bitten by Black Jack in April. The bite caused Belcher to get a tetanus shot.

"The rest of the weekend he was fine," Belcher said of the dog, which its handler, Trooper Steve Gentry, had left for a brief stay at Gone to the Dogs in Middlesex County.

Capt. Don Martin, State Police training supervisor, said it was rare that a dog would be ordered destroyed for reasons other than ill-health or injury. More likely options include reassignment to another location or retirement.

Belcher said his wife, Heather, has been calling State Police headquarters in Richmond offering to buy Black Jack if the dog gets a thumbs down either for future service or for its life.

Black Jack was taken to Richmond Aug. 17 for evaluation after Gloucester animal control authorities cited the dog as a dangerous animal. Black Jack bit three people in less than eight months as a patrol dog.

The county's action followed a complaint by Eileen Shea, whose 8-year-old daughter was severely bitten by Black Jack last month in the neighborhood shared by the Gentrys and Sheas.

Gentry, who kept the dog in a kennel at his residence, described the Shea biting as "a freak accident," but declined to discuss details.

He pointed out that the dog had not yet been trained in October when it attacked and bit a 13-year-old girl riding by on a bicycle.

Black Jack had a reputation for being too aggressive before he was given to the State Police last fall. But after his training for patrol work he demonstrated "phenomenal" ability, Gentry said.

"His potential had not even been scratched, what he was capable of locating and doing. He was just a rookie," the trooper said.

During his service with Gentry, Black Jack worked 37 times in tracking people and subduing suspects, injuring no one in the process, Gentry said.

With his handler present, he has worked in about a dozen jurisdictions, including Chesterfield, Powhatan, Amelia and Northumberland counties.

"He has 22 arrests to his credit. He tracks with or without other officers present, he does off-lead searches and works well with people standing around," he said. An off-lead search is conducted with the dog not on a leash.

Lt. Terry Singleton of the Gloucester Sheriff's Department said Black Jack has worked about half a dozen missions in the county, both as a tracker and an attack dog.

"We've never had any problems. The dog was always in total compliance with anything Steve wanted him to do," said Singleton.

Black Jack also has given two demonstrations including one to a group of some 300 first-graders at Mallory Elementary School in Hampton in January. Many of the children sent thank-you notes to Gentry embellished with drawings of the dog.

"Dear Officer Gentry, thank you for visiting Mallory School and for bringing Black Jack. Love, Taurean," wrote one of the youngsters.

Gentry said that although Black Jack is loved as if a member of his family, his concern for the dog's fate goes beyond affection.

"He's my partner," he said.

Martin, the State Police training supervisor, whose division evaluated Black Jack last week, declined to say what recommendation he forwarded to the field operations division.

Maj. John Scott, assistant supervisor of field operations, said Friday that Martin's recommendation was already on his desk. But Scott wouldn't reveal the recommendation either, saying Black Jack's fate probably would be decided this week.

Scott did give a hint when asked whether a happy ending was likely.

"I hope so," he said. Then, after a pause, he added, "Real honestly, I think so."